A Plague of Mercies
by Adam Pelzman
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Pub Date Jun 07 2023 | Archive Date May 25 2023
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Description
A Novel Told in Verse, read an excerpt below
A lethal plague sweeps the globe. Millions have died. Survivors are confined to their homes.
Gabriel passes his time in a small New York apartment on the city's Upper West Side. During the plodding solitude of the lockdown, he observes several strangers in their nearby apartments. As he watches them struggle to survive a world at risk of extinction, he wonders about their lives—where they're from, what they value, how they're coping with a deadly contagion. All alone, he develops a vague yet important connection to these people, an affection for those who are struggling to survive isolation, fear and looming death.
Told in powerful, spellbinding free verse, Gabriel's observations grow deeper and more elaborate as the endless days pass. But when he and a woman from across the street begin to watch each other from afar, his imagination begins to collide with the bleak reality of the times.
EXCERPT
There is a woman who lives in a building in New York City,
on the Upper West Side.
A man just a few years older lives in a building across the street.
These two people live at the same elevation,
the same height,
one hundred feet above the pavement,
above the crust of the earth.
They can see into each other’s apartments.
Every night before the woman gets into bed
she puts on a threadbare gray shirt.
The shirt is long and sleeveless and extends down to her knees.
She turns off the ceiling light
and then turns on a nightlight near her bed.
The light casts an amber glow reminiscent of a campfire.
The man in the other apartment wonders if the nightlight
is the woman’s response to a fear of the dark,
to a threat real or imagined,
an antidote of sorts.
After she turns on the nightlight
she looks briefly through her window.
Perhaps she is reflecting on another day passed.
Perhaps she is considering the quality of her life,
or the quantity that remains.
Perhaps she is scanning the dark street for signs of life,
for hope in any of its many forms.
Advance Praise
Praise for A Plague of Mercies
"... a captivatingly unconventional love story ... brilliantly observant poetry that captures a dark moment in our recent history." —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Praise for A Plague of Mercies
"... a captivatingly unconventional love story ... brilliantly observant poetry that captures a dark moment in our recent history." —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781733258579 |
| PRICE | $8.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 374 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Lorca D, Media/Journalist
I cannot recall ever reading a book like this one. I'll admit, the free verse was unusual and certainly a choice the author made, but it was so strange that it took only pages to get pulled into it and "forget" that this wasn't a standard fiction novel.
As I read, I kept remembering some things I've just accepted about the COVID-19 pandemic--I remember seeing publisher, agents, and even reviewers online speaking out against the idea of pandemic-related fiction. I can see their point, that maybe it's "too soon" for some of us. I think this book did a really good job of simply making that awful time a part of the setting without focusing on it in any way. This book isn't about death and disease... it's about struggling to survive and stay sane when you seemingly have only yourself for company.
While it won't be everyone's cup of tea, I'm sure, I think it's definitely something people should at least try. While it could certainly broaden people's tastes in fiction writing styles, I think a lot of readers are going to find some long-awaited peace from what all of us just went through in some way.
Marie P, Reviewer
Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of A Plague of Mercies. This is an apocalyptic pandemic novel told in verse. It's the first book that I have read in this form. It was interesting and told a good story. It worked and was easy to follow. It did make it hard to have character development and plot development so the story was linear. However, overall, I liked that it was different.
Linda L, Reviewer
I've read a few COVID-19 pandemic novels in the last few years, but this was the first that was told in free verse. Somehow this style of storytelling pulled me right into 2020 NYC and the lives of these characters who are struggling to deal with isolation, sickness, grief, and loneliness, as well as all the other changes that came along with the pandemic. Gabriel is an interesting character, as are all the others that he watches through the window of his Upper West Side, NYC apartment, including a lonely old man, a widowed socialite, an aging couple, and a pair of gay doctors, and a woman he calls Sophie. A quick and captivating read....heartbreaking and poignant, yet ultimately hopeful. Highly recommend!
Thanks you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
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